A Weird Alliance
by Katikinzz
Summary: Helga must battle with the her love for Arnold and her want to move on in order to face the New School Year.Helga must consult the class queen Rhonda Wellington Lloyd in order to change her ways. Reviews are welcome! ;
1. Chapter 1

Helga and Phoebe are sitting on a bench in the park. Helga is crying, her hair in front of her face. The two of them are in high school and they have just realized just how hard boys can really be. Pheobe is sitting next to her friend. Her arm gently over Helga's shoulders. She leans down to whisper something into Helga's ear, something supportive that ultimately makes Helga cry even more. Helga pushes Phoebe over and tells her that she would rather be left alone. So Pheobe leaves a sobbing Helga and goes off to find Gerald. After every step she takes, she looks back making sure that her friend really meant that she wanted solitude.

As it turns out, Gerald and Arnold are running through a path in the park. Gerald runs ahead to Phoebe and Arnold branches off to the side catching his breath. He walks over to Helga when he sees her tears, to figure out if she's okay.

"GO AWAY YOU STUPID FOOTBALL HEAD YOU ARE THE LAST PERSON THAT I WANT TO TALK TO RIGHT NOW." A now angered Helga screams.

"I'm sorry." Arnold apoligizes as he throws his hands in the air. He looks over at Gerald to see Gerald's arms wrapped around Phoebe's waist. He watches as Gerald lifts Phoebe's glasses over her head and kisses her. "I think I have to go anyway."

He isn't going to stay in a place where he was obviously not wanted. And with that Arnold leaves, but no one really pays all that much attention.

Helga looks up to see what the silence was all about. She sees Pheobe locking lips with Gerald and it's as if a ticking bomb goes off inside of her.

"That's it. I can't watch this." Helga exclaims as she walked away crying even more. As if it wasn't bad enough that the boy she likes doesn't like her back but at the same time her best friend was dating the boy of her own dreams and wasn't afraid to hide it. Sometimes she just feels as if she is the only one not meant for a happy ending.

Helga starts pacing the streets, her head down so that no onlookers could see her tears. Everyone knew her as the tough kid, some called her a bully, but on the inside all she's only human. She has feelings. She has a perfect sister, an alcoholic mother, and an angry father. No one pays attention to her. She is just kind of there. The only person who had ever really payed attention to her as a person, didn't like her because well... she didn't really give him a reason to. And even though now he had a reason, he really just didn't want to.

Everything she passes by makes her think of him. Every step, every sign, every little breath is a memory of what she could have had if she just showed a smidge of kindness. She remembered the Valentine's day, the Thanksgiving and the Christmas. She remembers the baseball games and all the places she spent wishing he would never know her secret.

She had to be tough. She had to show people that she had a place in this world and that she did exist. She had to show them that she could get what she wanted even if it wasn't at home. She lost her love trying to prove it all to herself. If she could do one thing, it would be to prove to the weird headed boy that she was different. But, alas, she knows this can never be done.

Minutes later she was home. She waits an hour alone in her room trying to forget and trying to stop herself from crying more. After the hour is up she grabs her cell phone and calls Phoebe.

"I want to forget. I want to live my life without thinking of...you know." She says.

Pheobe hesitated. This didn't sound like her best friend at all. "What do you mean?"

"YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN. I AM TALKING ABOUT... ice cream." Helga yells.

That was the Helga, she knew and loved. "Maybe you should try out different flavors. Vanilla can't be your favorite if you haven't tried chocolate. Trust me... I know."

"You're right. Imagine the flavors. Bluberry, strawberry, coconut, coffee..."

"Peanut butter, bubblegum, cookie dough, rocky road..."

"There's tons of flavors. But how can I try them all. i don't have the...you know...money." Helga says excitedly. She was so glad that Pheobe could always grasp what she was talking about.

"No but I know one person who has tons of money..." Phoebe exclams and Helga knew exactly what she was talking about.

"RHONDA." They say simultaneously.

"Oh and Phoebe. Let's forget this conversation ever happened."

"Forgetting."


	2. Chapter 2

It takes forever for Helga to get to sleep that night, the hours dragging on in her head. She can't sleep and every time her eyes almost close another thought comes into her head. She tries to count sheep but it doesn't work. All the sheep wear blue caps and their yellow fur stands up on end. She tries reading but every sentence reminds her of her own writings in her pink diary. She tries counting backwards but every number reminds her of Arnold. The number of spitballs she shot at his head last week, the number of times she called him football head yesterday, the number of times she cut locks of his hair when his back was turned, or the number of chewed up gum she collected from the trash bins.

Eventually she just thinks about him. About the times he was nice to her even though she didn't deserve it, the times she waited for him to just look at her, the times his smile warmed her cold little heart, the smirks and the winks he gave her when he could see through her rough exterior, the times when everything around her was falling apart but that one mention of his name brought her the smallest little smile, and the time he rejected her because she was clueless when it came to love. Then she thought of the times she kissed him, Romeo and Juliet, haha Babe Watch. She knew that none of those times meant anything to him. They were acting, they weren't real.

Still she loved everything about him. His stupid hat, his perfectly long hair, his cheerfulness and smile, the way he could fix any problem, the way he actually cared about others even though she had grown to hate them, and the way that deep down she could always feel that maybe, just maybe one day he could learn to like her too. She stalked him even more now that she had a car. She would duck down and stare at the boarding house. She would smile at the way he would look over and pretend not to notice. Arnold knew her feelings but could never find a way to like her back.

She attempted many things in high school to try and get him to notice her. She would dye her hair or even wax that insane unibrow but it never mattered because he could never learn to love her back or even give her a second glance. And she knew deep in her heart that no matter what she could do or say to him wouldn't matter because it just wasn't meant to be. At least that's what she told herself.

She didn't, of course, know about the thoughts he had about her. He didn't "like her like her" but he did like her. He felt bad for her. He was the kind of person to try and find good in anybody and had spent a whole lot of time trying to figure out just what made Helga Pataki a good person. It wasn't as hard as he thought but it wasn't enough to make him forget all the horrible things she did to him. He knew that she was a loner. He knew about her family and the fact that the kids at school weren't very fond of her. He always met with her near trashcans which of course, was weird but sometimes he would catch the last word she would say. Either way he knew that deep down she wasn't as mean and heartless as she seemed.

After some amount of hours, Helga finally falls asleep. Not one of those peaceful dreamless sleeps but one of those waking up at random hours of the night because every dream basically sucks kind of nights. When she does dream, she dreams of Arnold. She dreams of running her fingers through his hair as he uses his own hands to tear her heart in two (metaphorically, of course). She stirs every couple of minutes as her mind endeacors to change the subject. It isn't long before she wakes up for good.

Luckily she wakes up on a Saturday. Without bothering to look at a clock, she goes to her drawer and pulls out a piece of paper with Rhonda's number written in purple ink. She dials away and gets Rhonda's voicemail. Normally she would have given up right then and there and called back later, but this time, she was desperate. So she tries again and again until finally Rhonda picks up.

"WHAT?!" Rhonda yells, after all, you wouldn't want to be woken up early on a Saturday by Helga G. Pataki.

"Get up Princess." Helga commands.

"What do you want?"

"I...uh... I need your help."


	3. Chapter 3

Rhonda Wellington Lloyd is lying in bed. Her sheets pulled up to her neck and her eyes shut tight. The lights are out and the house is silent. It is six in the morning and the only reason she is not asleep is that her phone is held to her ear by her left hand, which has snuck its way out of her comforter. If the person on the other line was, let's say Nadine, Iggy, or Lila, it would've been fine but the luck is not in her favor today. Helga G. Pataki, a 16 year old amazon with the guts to stand up to Rhonda and tell her how great Rhonda is doing at being the class bitch. So, let's just say, she was not exactly thrilled to be up talking on her phone.

"You need...my help. Look, Helga, I really don't have time to do a complete make-over. If you were Sheena, or Patty, or Eugene, or anyone else I could fit you in. But you are just too big of a job."

"Listen, princess, I am not asking you to make me look pretty. I.. need help... well you know how to.. get boys and stuff."

"You want guy advice!?" Rhonda opens her eyes and turns to her phone. She sits up in her queen bed, pushing the covers off of herself. She pinches her arm in order to make sure that she is awake. Helga, after all, was not exactly the boy attracting type. Besides Stinky in fourth grade, Rhonda can't even think of a time when Helga had a guy want to be with her. "Well that is also going to be too big of a job. And quite frankly, I do not believe that you are really into it. I mean, you, with a boyfriend. Please." Rhonda laughs.

"I wasn't asking for your opinion. I was asking for your help." Helga, in her own room paces. She tries to hide her anger and be nice but sometimes with Rhonda it was just impossible.

"But what exactly do I get out of it. After all, I don't need money, I am the most popular girl in school..."

"I'll get rid of Curly." Helga interrupted.

It took Rhonda only seconds to think about it. "Deal. Come over in an hour."

Rhonda falls asleep after setting an alarm, trying desperately to dream, but the phone call had already woken her up and it was had to fall back asleep. She was lucky enough to get ten minutes. In half an hour, Rhonda wakes up anyway, gets dressed, and waits by the door.

"Rhonda, darling, what are you doing at this ungodly hour."

"Mother, is it okay if I have a... classmate over?" Rhonda could never possibly refer to Helga as a friend.

"Of course, darling, anyone you want."

Rhonda takes out her phone. "In that case, I'm going to have two friends over." She takes her phone out and sends a quick text. By the time the text is sent, the doorbell rings, and in comes Helga. She walks in wearing jeans and a signature pink shirt. Rhonda looks up and down in disgust.

The two of them walk upstairs. Rhonda staring and making sure that Helga doesn't touch anything.

"Okay. So let me guess. This has to do with Arnold." Rhonda says as she stares at Helga's shocked expression. "Please, everyone heard about what happened during the Save the Neighborhood chaos. Just tell me, what exactly happened."

"Well it was Thursday. We were playing ball at Gerald field just like old times. It was Gerald's idea, actually. Ninth inning I was pitching, of course, and Arnold was playing shortstop. The other team had Eugene up at bat. They had two outs and two strikes. Basically, we were going to win hands down. I throw a curveball and Eugene misses. WE WIN THE GAME! Immediately our team starts freaking out. I mean, c'mon, years later and we still win. Anyway were all high fiving each other and what not. Soon enough, I've been congratulated by everyone Of course, I don't congratulate people, I mean there's always room for their improvements. I figure you'd appreciate that, eh princess. Anyway I get to the last kid on the team, Arnold. He comes running towards me saying 'hey. helga, you did a nice job out there.' And im startled. So I say 'Oh thanks, football head, your support means a lot to me.' Then realizing my mistake I try saying 'but you did well too.' So he says thanks and starts walking away. So I grab his arm and I pull him away from everyone into the corner of Gerald field. And I say to him 'Listen Arnold, something's been bothering me for a while. Actually a long time. Years, in fact. Remember what I said to you that day we saved the neighborhood. Well I still feel that way. I always have and I really just want to know...well.. do you like me too? Because, I never really found that out.' That was when it happened. He said to me 'Helga, I've thought about it. I've thought a lot about it. There have been times when you have been kind of nice, but then as soon as I mention it you turn on me and well, I don't see this ever going anywhere. Not as a relationship and honestly not even as much of a friendship.' So I say 'so, you don't even like me, at all.' And he says 'Well can you blame me. I mean most of the time your just mean.' So i started trying to explain myself but he cuts me off saying 'you call me names, threaten me, and just make the rudest comments to me. I just don't think that I can like you like that. Ever since that day on the rooftop, you have still been nothing but mean to me and well, I'm not gonna put myself in a situation to get hurt. If we can't even be friends, well, we really can't be anything more than that ' Then he just walked away. Just like that."

"So you want to figure out how to get Arnold to like you. Well, that is going to be hard. i mean, c'mon you've been mean to the kid for years, since, like, preschool." Rhonda says as she plays with Helga's hair.

"I don't want to try and get Arnold to like me. Why don't you try listening before making assumptions." Helga glares at Rhonda and then remembers their deal. "Sorry."

"Whatever. So you don't want Arnold?"

"That what I used to want. Now I just want someone else. Someone to get my mind off of him."

The doorbell rings. "I hope you don't mind but I asked someone else over to help." Rhonda walks out of the room, leaving a broken hearted Helga on the bed. She takes the moment to get her breathing back to normal. She knows that it took guts to tell her story but at the same time she hates the fact that it had to be Rhonda to hear it. She takes another second to glance around the room. Paintings on the wall, fur coats hanging on metal mannequins, and a bedroom set fit for royalty. Nothing less could be expected from the richest girl in the neighborhood. She still can't believe what she's done. Never in her life would she have expected to be hanging out with Rhonda and asking her for advice. Anyone who knew the two of them would know that they hated each other. They were practically rivals, especially since Big Bob decided to stop selling beepers and moved on to cell phones and laptops. Now both girls were both rich.

Soon enough, two sets of footsteps come up the stairs, and the door swings open. Rhonda comes in first and Helga tries to fake a smile to cover up that she spent the last minute crying. As soon as the second person comes, however, in the smile fades. Helga screams internally, because there standing in the doorway is little Miss Perfect herself, Lila Sawyer.


	4. Chapter 4

"What is she doing here?!" Helga yells. She stands up and mimicks rolling up her sleeves. Rhonda shakes her head and forefinger. It's early in the morning and Little Miss Sunshine has decided to rise with the sun, looking perfect as always.

Rhonda leans in to Helga and whispers, "Listen, Helga, I know you don't like Lila, but she's my friend and I really think that you could use her help."

"I do not need HER help. If you really want me to get rid of Curly, you're gonna have to get rid of her." Helga exclaims, her hands clenching into fists. Lila stands in the doorway, her hands holding onto each other. She looks around the room completely oblivious to what Rhonda and Helga are saying about her. Occasionally she reaches into an overly large bag but she never pulls anything out.

"Helga, please, just try being nice." Rhonda whispers desperately.

"FINE." Helga speaks through her teeth as Rhonda hands her a piece of paper. Lila's phone number, just in case.

"Okay, here's the deal. There is a party tonight at my parents country club. I was going to ask someone at school to be my date. But instead I have deciided that I will be taking you instead."

"You're not really my type."

"Haha." Rhonda snickers sarcastically. "I am going to be showing you off to the rich boys. If you want to get Arnold jealous. These boys will do the trick. It's a good thing you got those braces when you were in middle school, by the way. They make this whole thing a lot easier."

"And I thought you were just gonna teach me to be nice."

"You gotta look the part to be the part, hun. Well, here we go."

Rhonda then grabs Lila by the arm and drags her over to Helga. She plays with Helga's hair some more and ends up undoing the pigtails. Lila stands by watching, unsure of what to do or where to start. She leans to the side and uses her hands as a camera to try and get the right look.

"I think she needs new clothes." Lila says. She looks into her bag and grabs out a pink spagetti strap dress and hands it to Helga. The dress is tight up top but with a loose a-line bottom. There is a bow in the middle, much like the one Helga would wear in her hair as a kid. "I made this. I was inspired ever so much by the dress you used to wear. I actually made it a while ago. I though that if we became friends that I could give it to you. I'm sure that you'll look absolutely wonderful in it."

"Well, uh, thanks Lila." Helga replies. She takes the dress and goes behind a curtain in Rhonda's room. She puts it on and walks out. Perfect fit! Lila and Rhonda turn their heads towards each other and smile.

"You look stunning!" Rhonda gasps.

"Thanks princess, you don't look all that bad yourself." Helga says sarcastically. Rhonda rolls her eyes and looks past Helga's personaliy.

"I have these great pair of heels too." Rhonda says, completely disregarding Helga's comment. While Rhonda goes in search of her heels, Lila starts straightening Helga's hair. Her hair turns out to be relatively straight to begin with, so it doesn't take Lila very long to finish. Just in time, Rhonda comes back with the shoes for Helga and luckily they are nearly a perfect fit, a size or two too small but Rhonda always says that looking good is better than feeling good.

"Oooo good thinking on the hair thing." Rhonda says as she reaches for a bag. "And now for makeup."

"Why are you doing this now if the party isn't until later?"

"You do know that the phrase 'freshen up' doesn't refer to washing your hands right? If it looks bad later. Fix it. Or better yet, I'll fix it for you."

After applying foundation, mascara, eye-liner, blush, eyeshadow, and all that, Rhonda finishes. It took around half an hour but still, Helga can finally look at herself and say she is pretty.

"And you said you weren't gonna give me a makeover. Well I am impressed."

Helga models around a bit and gets a thumbs up from Rhonda, Lila, and even Rhonda's mother who had come to give Rhonda a dress straight from the dry cleaners. Finally they are getting somewhere. Hair down, eyebrow waxed, new makeup and a one of a kind dress were just the things Helga needed to look pretty, now all she needed was to learn to act as pretty as well. And if they thought her look was hard, well her personality, well that has a mind of its own.


	5. Chapter 5

Arnold and Gerald are sitting by themselves on a park bench, sun shining, birds singing. A typical day. Kids are playing all around them. The two of them look up smiling, reminiscing the good ole days. Then smiling again when they realize how old they feel for thinking the phrase "good ole days." They sit there wishing for a time when impressing girls was not the only thing on their mind. Arnold runs his hands through his hair. He picks up his hat and he looks at it. Without thinking he puts it back on his head.

In the distance he hears a voice shouting, "FOOTBALL HEAD!"

He looks up and around trying to find the face of the person who called. A little girl in a purple dress, brown hair in pigtails and a large bow on top, comes over. She has an overbite and one eyebrow. "Hey, can we have our football back."

Arnold looks around. Underneath the bench there is a football. He takes it out and studies it for a second. There is a face drawn on it. Droopy smiling eyes, a nose in the shape of a C, and a kind smile. He thinks to himself _So that's what they meant by football head. _Suddenly he remembers Helga and what he had said to her. Although he questions the harshness in his words, he doesn't regret it.

Gerald looks at his friend and knows that something is wrong. "Yo Arnold, what's wrong."

"Nothing." Arnold says. "Well, it's just Helga."

"Are you really gonna let her bother again. She is out of your hair, man. Think of it as an opportunity. No more being called a football head and a lot more... who ARE you liking these days?" Gerald advises.

"That's not what's bothering me. It's just that, well, you remember after the game when Helga cornered me?" Arnold says. Gerald nods his head letting Arnold know that, yeah, he remembers. "Well she told me that she still likes me. Which wasn't all that bad, but then she asked me how I felt about her. I told her the truth, that we could never be together. And now I just feel like maybe I was too mean."

"Well what did you say?"

"I said that if she couldn't even try being friends with me, then there's no way that we could be together." Arnold comments. Gerald stares at him in shock. Not because he couldn't believe that Arnold said that but because he was shocked that it was a big deal.

"That's it. That's all you said. Well that's not all that bad."

"No she just looked so upset afterwards. I don't know. Maybe I should just apoligize."

"There is NO reason to apoligize." Gerald says angrily. "You did nothing wrong."

"Yeah, but I just feel bad." Arnold claims. "I'm going to go find her."

Arnold stands up and starts to walk away. Gerald attempts to stop him but when he sees Phoebe heading his way he completely forgot.

"Hey Phoebe." Arnold calls out.

Phoebe walks over to the two of them. She's wearing her signature blue sweater with a pair of skinny jeans. She adjusts her glasses (She didn't like contacts) and repsonds, "Yeah, Arnold?"

"Do you know where I can find Helga?" Arnold says as he and Phoebe are finally face to face.

"Yes, but I am fairly certain that she would prefer if I left that clandestine." Phoebe readjusts her glasses, a sort of nervous habit of hers. Arnold looks down defeated.

Geralds steps in and pushes Arnold aside. "Okay, Phoebe. My friend here, for whatever reason has decided that he needs to talk to Helga, and I mean he REALLY needs to talk to her. If not, then I'm gonna have to deal with him moping around because he can't make it right. Please, don't do it for him. Do it for me. Please Phoebe."

"Though it is against my better judgement. She told me that she was going over Rhonda's and went I walked by I could see the three of them conversing in Rhonda's room."

"The three of them?" Arnold asks.

"Oh. I must have forgotten? Lila is with them."

"Lila? But Helga hates Lila."

"I will admit to the abberation of the selcouth situation, but I have decided to look past it due to the nadir circumstances. Anyway, Gerald, remember the movie that we were planning on attending?"

"Of course. I got the tickets online." Gerald says holding up a pair of tickets. Phoebe reaches up and grabs hers as she walks by him. She looks over her shoulder and gestures him to follow. Arnold is left to find Helga on his own. He begins to walk down the blocks. Every corner is a new memory. The time Helga yelled at him for turning a corner, the time Helga yelled at him for having a weirdly shaped head, or when she yells and blames him for walking into her when turning a to think of it Helga yells a lot. About halfway there, he stops and thinks to himself _Why should I even bother. She has never once apoligized for the things she does to me. But I'm not like her. She has to know that I wasn't being mean. Just honest. _

Arnold walks a couple more blocks and stops outside the Wellington Lloyd house. He stares into one of the windows and sure enough there Helga and with her are Rhonda and Lila. The weird part being that the three of them actually seem to be getting along and even laugh together.

He walks up the walkway and to the front door where he rings the doorbell. The three girls walk down and immediately stop at the door as Rhonda looks out and sees Arnold. They whisper to themselves and it is decided that Helga is the one to open the door. And within seconds Helga and Arnold are standing face to face.


	6. Chapter 6

Helga opens the door, her hand practically dripping from nervous sweat. Lila and Rhonda stand beside her telling her that it's okay. She can see him, his hands in his pockets, looking around as if it was all new to him. And that stupid shaped head of his. Oh how she hated it, but yet, she loved it. She longed to see his football face. And this time she knew that he was the one who wanted to talk to her. Thank god Phoebe had her phone with her. Helga didn't blame Phoebe for letting it slip, after all, she couldn't keep a secret from her boyfriend. That wasn't like her, it would be like asking her to keep a secret from Helga. Speaking of Helga, this was it. Slowly she turns the knob and she opens the door.

She looks down and then back up. Still feeling hurt and angry she just says, "WHAT?"

"I just came over to say that..."

"I don't want to hear it, Football Head!" Helga's anger takes over leaving sad Helga in the dust.

"Do you really have to call me 'Football Head' every time I try to talk to you?"

"Why, yes, Football Face, I think I do."

"Well I just came here to apoligize."

"Well you are wasting your precious time. So why don't you go find tall hair boy and talk about your freakish features and leave me alone because I am done with you." Helga says. Rhonda and Lila place their comforting hands on Helga's shoulders. Seeing this, Arnold takes a step back.

"Can I talk to Helga alone, please." Arnold says apoligetically.

"Sure. Come on Lila. We need to work on something anyway." Rhonda then scowls. She pushes Helga gently out the door which she closes behind her. Helga hugs her shoulders, feeling completely alone again.

"Listen, I'm sorry for what I said. It was mean."

"No, Arnold, it wasn't. It was true. All of it. I am mean to you. Why should you be my friend? "

"You're not mean all the time."

"No. I am. I'm mean to everyone. Harold because he's fat and dumb. Lila because she's little Miss Perfect. Rhonda because she's a show off, spoiled rich brat. Phoebe when she doesn't do something right. You, because well I like you. I'm mean to everyone." Helga admits. She realizes then that saying it out loud made the whole idea of liking him seem silly. She lets out a small scoff of sorts.

"You're not being mean right now."

"Well, I don't know. I guess it's just because, well, I'm done obsessing over you. I'm done with... everything. I think that I'm finally ready to move on and stop crying over you. That's all."

"I do have another question."

"What?" Helga shrugs.

"Why did you like me."

"I had to walk to preschool the first day. It started raining, I got wet. You shared your umbrella. Throughout the day, I was made fun of repeatedly by everyone. You were the only one who treated me like a person. I don't get that at home or at school. You were the only one who actually seemed to care about me, but now I know that you don't. No one does. Do you know how that feels? To feel like you have no one?"

"No." Arnold starts. He looks straight into her eyes and can see the hurt. She was not kidding and he knows it. "Why do you think I stopped caring about you?"

"Because of what you said..."

"I said that we couldn't have a relationship."

"You also said we couldn't be friends."

"Helga, I've always cared about you. If I didn't I wouldn't have talked to you that Thanksgiving, actually I probably just wouldn't have talked to you. I do care. A lot. Whenever you come to school nearly in tears because of your dad and you decide to hit someone, I notice."

"You do?"

"Well, yeah. I just don't want to be hit. No offense, but I like my face the way it is. Football shaped or not." Arnold laughs. "Helga, I care alot."

"Well, you sure have a bad way of showing it."

"But Helga I lied to you."

"Okay." Helga says. She wants to jump at him. Yell at him for lying but nothing he could have lied about could be worse than the years she lied to him.

"I HAVE been thinking about the time we saved the neighborhood. And well there's something I kind of want to try." Arnold says as he walks closer. He puts his arms around her waist and brings her closer. He leans in and before she knows it their lips are touching. All other feelings are lost and she knows that nothing, nothing could be as good as this moment. She wraps her hands behind his neck and pulls him closer.

Then he backs off.

"I can't... I don't know what... I'm sorry. I don't like you like that."

"But you kissed me."

"I know"

"So what the HELL was that?"

"A mistake." Arnold says. Then we walks off leaving a helpless Helga to cry on the stoop.


	7. Chapter 7

Rhonda opens the door slowly, looking out to see where her friend went. It isn't until she hears the sound of struggled breathing that she realizes Helga is on the ground, practically in hiding. Rhonda leans over and holds out her hand. Helga, eyes blinded by tears, looks up, not even realizing that Rhonda was even there. Helga takes her arm and drags it along her eyes. Now seeing the outstreched hand he grabs it and lifts herself up.

"I knew we shouldn't have left her alone." Rhonda says. "Why would you even consider it, Lila?"

Lila looks at her and shakes her head. She puts an arm around Helga's back and brings her inside. "What happened, Helga?"

"H-h-e...he k-kissed me." Helga mutters quietly. She wipes her eyes again, clearing her throat. Louder this time, she says, "He came over to apoligize for what he said to me, and then out of nowhere at all, he kissed me. Then he said he didn't like me like that and that the kiss was a mistake. Next thing I know he's halfway down the street and I'm sitting on your porch alone."

"Mixed signals much."

"I thought that maybe for just a second that he actually liked me, but I was wrong. He's just toying with me."

"That's it!" Rhonda says. She lets herself out and runs down the street not even bothering to realize that she's barefoot.

After about half a mile, she catches up with Arnold who is now walking with Sid. Rhonda runs between them, pushing Sid into the street. She stops Arnold and looks at him straight in the eyes. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." Arnold apoligizes.

"Back at my house. You remember. You came to 'talk' to Helga and then you kiss her, and then you break her heart."

"You kissed Helga, gross." Sid comments. Rhonda turns around to glare at him.

"It was an accident." Arnold clarifies. "I went over there expecting to see a dorky girl in a loose pink dress with pigtails and one eyebrow. I could just apoligize and leave. Then I go over and she's compeletely different than I expected. She's nice, she's beautiful, and I don't know. I couldn't help myself. I had to remind myself that she was Helga and that she's a bully because the girl that stood before me was not typical Helga."

"Yeah. And you want to know why she was different. She called me at like 6 in the morning, crying about you. She interupted my beauty sleep to talk about you. So then she came over, with Lila and Lila and I fixed her up. We spent the entire three hours telling her that she was better than you. That she didn't need you. That we were gonna find her someone new. Then you come over and completely up her feelings toward you. Only to tear her apart. Three hours of my life are now gone. I hope you're happy."

"Rhonda, I didn't mean to do it. I have never done anything like that before in my life. It's like vanilla ice cream. It's good but it's kind of boring. As soon as it gets turned into a sundae though, it's irresistible. But you have to realize that underneath the sprinkles and the chocolate fudge, its the same ice cream. There have been times when I have seen the good I Helga and at the door I honestly could not help myself because she seemed so nice, and looked so fantastic. But underneath it all, she's the same Helga. The one that calls me football head and runs into me. The realization just hit me a bit late. If i could take it back, I would. I'm sorry."

"Did you just compare Helga Pataki to vanilla ice cream?" Sid asks. "Great now there's one flavor that's dead to me."

"Arnold, you can't honestly think that you can justify what you did. You're just lucky it was Helga."

"Lucky it was Helga?" Sid comments. "Never thought I'd hear that sentence."

"Oh shut up Sid!" Rhonda yells before turning her attention back to Arnold. "Point being, she still really likes you. Even though she wont admit to it. Any other girl would have slapped you. She's liked you for like ever. She couldn't have hurt you if she wanted to. As for me. I would have grabbed the plant on my stoop and slapped you with it. You need to pay more attention to what you do, because now guess who has to spend the rest of the day with Helga. Me. So now no one is happy."

"Rhonda. I'm sorry." Arnold pleads.

"Yeah, it's a little late for that." Rhonda turns and walks away.

After about a minute, Sid and Arnold start walking again. They remain silent for another two minutes.

Finally Sid breaks the ice by saying, "She's kind of cute when she's mad."

Meanwhile Rhonda has found herself back home. Lila and Helga lay down on her bed staring at the ceiling talking about Arnold.

"I'm completely serious. How does one come up with a head like that?" Helga laughs.

"Oh I'm sure that I just don't know." Lila giggles. "And that blonde hair. Now I like blondes ever so much but how does he get his hair to be like that?"

"That is just beyond me."

"I'm glad to see that you two finally like each other." Rhonda says, a slight anger in her voice.

"Is something wrong?" Lila asks.

"No."

"What did he say?" Helga asks anxiously.

"Pretty much nothing that we didn't already know." Rhonda says. "I believe some of his exact words were: She's like vanilla ice cream, good but kind of boring."

"How am I boring?!"

"You're not. He went on to say that he didn't really take into consideration that behind the glam was you."

"So he doesn't like me."

"No but he did like how you looked. So you should be all set for later. I mean if he though you were pretty, just wait. All the guys will be after you. Well once I turn them down at least."

"You know what? You're right, princess. I'll find someone new. Piece of cake." Helga says confidently.

Rhonda grabs a piece of paper from her dresser and hands it to Helga and tells her that its her pass for the country club dance. As Helga reads the pass, Rhonda and Lila share a glance behind her back. Rhonda winks at Lila and Lila smiles back. It's a good thing Rhonda knows just where another spare pass is.


	8. Chapter 8

Rhonda and Helga step out of a limo to walk into the Country Club. The building is practically a mansion and even though she is not poor herself, Helga's jaw drops. The two of them walk in, linking arms. Rhonda checks Helga's makeup once more before deciding to walk to the door. When at the entrance, Rhonda puts her hand out to stop Helga. They wait in silence for a couple of minutes. Rhonda looks down and adjusts her red bohemian style dress-handkerchief hemmed with red, black, white, and silver vertical stripes and a black tassle tied at her waist. She fixes her hair and waits for a car. When it shows up she runs toward it and helps Lila out. Lila is wearing a dress, more simular to Helga's but in green. Rhonda and Lila walk back over to Helga.

"I thought that you only had one extra ticket."

"Lila is always welcome. She has a special sort of charm. Everyone loves her so much that she gets her own special pass. For free." Rhonda says as she ushers her friends into the mansion. "Take notes, Helga dear. You may want to try being nice, yourself."

Helga and Lila trail behind Rhonda as she greets her friends. After being kissed on the hand by about twenty-four people, she finally finds someone to introduce. A tall boy with shaggy brown hair and bright turquoise eyes walks over. He is wearing a brand name blue, green, and white striped polo with khaki's. He looks more like a surfer rather than a rich snob which is perhaps why Rhonda thought he was perfect.

"Bradley Bennett." Rhonda cheers as her friend walks over. "These are my friends, Lila Sawyer and Helga Pataki."

"Hey." Bradley says as he goes to shake each of their hands. He walks over to Rhonda and instead gives her a hug. "It has been too long my friend."

"I see that you're still not all that into appearances." Rhonda says as she looks him up and down.

"Yeah. And I see that you're still unhealthily obsessed with them." He says back with a smile.

"It doesn't hurt to look nice. Right girls." Rhonda asks. Lila nods her head but Helga just stands there which grabs Bradley's attention.

"Do you not agree?" He asks Helga.

"No it's just that sometimes there are more important things than fancy thousand dollar dresses."

Rhonda turns around quickly to stare at Helga. "What are you doing?" She whispers.

"Calm down, princess. I just don't think relationships should be lenient soley on looks." Helga says loud enough for Bradley to hear.

"You know what. I feel like the two of us could have a lot to talk about." Bradley says eying Helga. "Do you wanna go get some punch?"

"Sure, Bradley."

"Brad is fine."

Helga and Brad turn around and walk away. Rhonda looks at Lila and they smile. They wait til Brad and Helga are out of eyesight before the two of them walk to the door.

"So did you contact your date for the evening?" Rhonda asks.

"Yes. He should be here in half an hour." Lila responds questionably. "But why did you want him here?"

"You'll see."

"I think that it is ever so wonderful what you're doing for Helga. But how did you know it would work?"

"I didn't. I had about fifteen guys that I was going to gesture over if Brad didn't work. And now to go find myself a date. Shouldn't be hard. Everyone here loves me."

Over at the punchbowl, Helga and Brad laugh about the many antics of a spoiled Rhonda. He flips his hair as he leans against the table. Helga stands straight up. She points her finger gesturing for him to wait a minute. She takes off her uncomfortable heels and throws them in a corner. This makes Brad laugh twice as hard. Another boy walks over and shakes hands with Brad. Although slightly shorter than Brad, he too is tall but with neatly combed dark brown hair. He has on a light green button up shirt, khakis and a tie. The two boys look as simular and different as two boys could ever be.

"Helga, this is my brother James. He's what I'd call the classier of the two of us. I have two brothers and an older sister."

"Nice to meet you." Helga greets James. "I have only an older sister, Olga. She's terrible."

"She can't be half as bad as Cecilia."

"Try me."

"Does Olga come home with straight A's every single report card."

"Ha. She comes home with straight A+'s." Helga chuckles. "One time she locked herself in her room and cried for days because I made her believe she had an A-."

"Oh the old write on the report card trick. Classic. Personally, my favorite of my own antics has to be when one time she had a big presentation to give for some sort of culinary class. So I switched her flash drive with a fake one. It had the same names as all of her documents, but instead, her presentation had pictures of shirtless men eating sandwiches. You can never go wrong with sandwiches."

"My parent think that Olga is the single most perfect thing to ever walk along the Earth. She can play piano and sing and dance, and she talks in the most annoying way."

"Like this. 'Oh thank you ever so much. I am so grateful for everything that you do. I am sure that you all love me ever so much because I'm just ever so darling." Brad imitates. The two of them laugh together.  
"Exactly!" Helga exclaims. There's a girl in my class who does the same thing. It is so obnoxious. Don't even get me started on the pranks I've pulled on her."

"No please do." He encourages. "And then I'll tell you some of my personal favorite 'mishaps."

Then the two of them laugh about all the many pranks they pull not only on their siblings but also their classmates and teachers. James walks off and mingles with other friends of his. Meanwhile Rhonda, Lila, and Rhonda's friend Sebastian Wright are waiting by the door for Lila's friend to come. Sebastian has black hair and is perfect height for Rhonda. Like basically every boy in the club, he too is wearing khakis but instead with a suit jacket and a red shirt underneath. He claimed he was dressing just for Rhonda because of her signature color. Because of their on-again-off-again relationship, Rhonda agreed to be his date for the evening. Ironically enough, Brad and James were cousins of Sebastian, although the two families didn't really talk after an arguement about inheritance. Sebastian did however, keep in touch with Bradley and Blythe Bennett, the more laid back of the family. Speaking of which, Blythe Bennett decides to take a moment to walk over to the three of them.

Blythe walks over wearing jeans a dark gray shirt and a black vest. The fedora on his head hides his own shaggy brown hair. He pops his gum and throws his arm around Sebastian. Rhonda jumps back and scowls.

"So, uh, Seb, did you see who Brads been hanging out with. Some new cute blonde chic. You've got to check her out."

"Im surprised they still let you in here. Whether your dad owns it or not. And, yes. I have seen her. She is a friend of Rhonda's." Sebastian says as he looks back at his date. "Her name is...uh...Helga. I think."

"I gave her the makeover myself. Thanks. Now, Blythe, if you could, please get your disgusting hands off my date." Rhonda snarls. "Thanks."

"Glad to see that you haven't changed." Blythe says back as he gets close to her face.

Rhonda Lloyd and Blythe Bennett have never really gotten along. Especially not since Rhonda dated both of his brothers (not at the same time). Rhonda claims it's jealousy because she's dated his whole family except him. Blythe claims that she's just a harlot and a snob.

"Come on Lila and Seb. Let's go mingle elsewhere."

"Im ever so sure that I would love to but I have to wait for my date."

"Fine, but we'll wait outside and away from here."

They don't have to wait for long, though because right when they walk out a car stops and her date walks out...

**Please check out the poll I created (located on my profile) to vote for who you think Lila's date should be. If there is someone that you would consider that isn't on the ballot. I will make sure to add them in.**


	9. Chapter 9a

**So. Although originally I had another idea of who I wanted to go with Lila I have also taken into consideration what everyone else wanted. So I decided to write two versions of this story. One the way I was picturing it. And the other the way that others were looking for.**

_**Scenario 1.**_

The car is pulled up to the curb as Rhonda's entire group of friends watch in anticipation. As it turns out Rhonda and Lila decided not to tell anyone who it was that Lila was bringing and to instead leave it as a surprise. Rhonda smiles to herself. Although she did approve of the guy that Lila was bringing, she had an alternate plan that no one really knew about. That was why she had no problem with borrowing an extra pass for him. See, even though Lila had her own free ticket. It was not actually a full access pass like Rhonda's. Every pass has its own plus one. In other words, you can bring someone with you. Lila's ticket was more of an extra plus one. If Rhonda wanted to go to the club with Nadine she could bring that Nadine and Lila could tag along with them. The special passes were rarely ever given out. Only in special cases such as Lila's. She was a total sweetheart plus the fact that she didn't have money yet still dressed in the newest fashions. Nadine never got one because the managers of the club were weirded out by her obsession with bugs and dirt.

"You told him what to wear, didn't you?" Rhonda asks Lila. "We do not want a repeat of the whole Stinky incident, do we?"

"Oh I promise he will be properly dress, Rhonda. Oh, I am ever so excited."

"Does she always talk like that?" Sebastians asks in a whisper.

"Why? Do you have a problem with it?"

"No...Not at all. It's actually kind of cute." He responds looking at Lila. He then turns to see Rhonda glaring at him as if to say "excuse me?" Realizing his mistake Sebastian adds, "Well I mean, not as cute as anything you do babe...Of course."

"Of course." Rhonda says critically.

While they wait for the car door to open, Helga and Brad are having their own fun. Well, their version of fun. In other words, the two of them sit underneath the food tables surrounded by cupcakes and straws, while giggling to themselves. Every couple of minutes one of the two of them would stick their head out from under the table with a straw. They would look around for the perfect target. Then after finding said person, they would hold the straw to their mouth and blow spitballs. Afterwards they would duck down below the table and laugh about whoever it was that got hit.

"Haha I just hit this short kid wearing over by Rhonda, he's wearing a backwards green hat and Rhonda is flipping out. Now they're just like flabbergasted and all like 'oh my god, what was that.' The kid had some nice white boots, though." Bradley laughs

Helga leans over and lifts the table cloth. "Show me." She demands as he sticks his head through. He points directly three feet in front of him and Helga gasps. "Sid's here? What would he be doing here?"

Before her question was answered, however, she could hear Rhonda's voice calling, "Helga G. Pataki and Bradley Bennett, what do you think you are doing?"

"Aw lighten up sweetheart." Brad says as he moves out from under the table and stands up. "But I must compliment how quick you were to realize who and where the spitballs were coming from."

"Trust me, it wasn't hard to pick out. And besides it wouldn't be the first time for either of you."

"Just be glad that I didn't put any in your thousand dollar hair." Brad mocks refering to the new hairstyle and color that Rhonda has chosen recently.

No one in the group pays attention to the fact that Sid has walked away. He has his cell phone out and attached to his ear, his hand covering his other ear.

"Hey, Arnold, you there?"

"Yes. Sid. What do you want?"

"Well I told you that I would go to the party with Lila right? Yes." Sid starts, not allowing Arnold get a word in. "Well I told you that Helga would be here, right? Well it turns out that she was under the table, sharing spit with this tall guy. And he's not exactly the worst looking guy."

"Okay, Sid. Why do I care?"

"Because. You walk up to her and kiss her this morning and now she's totally making out with a guy not even 12 hours later. Now I think that Helga is gross but I mean if you like her, go ahead. But you're really missing your chance. You have to get her, right away." Sid practically yells. A few of the surrounding people, mainly the elderly, turn around to watch him as he freaks out. One old woman walks up to him and offers him a pill.

"What is this? Some sort of drug? WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM? I DON'T DO DRUGS!" Sid yells at the woman. He turns back to the phone. "No not you Arnold. This old person's trying to drug me."

"It is not drugs. It's 'medication.' for that yelling problem of yours, sonny."

"I DO NOT HAVE A... I mean, I don't have a yelling problem. I am a completely sane human being."

The woman rolls her eyes and walks away. Meanwhile, Lila has reached Sid's side and grabs his hand. "Oh I'm sure I would just love to get some punch with you."

"Oh, of course. Just give me a moment." Sid says as he shoos Lila away. "Listen Arnold, I am here for one reason and one reason only. To spy on Helga. I have even got a mini camera attached to the rim of my hat. I'll send you the video later."

"What about Lila? Lila is a nice girl. You better hang out with her."

"Oh I will, I just want you to know that I will be texting you throughout the night."

Sid walks over to Lila and grabs her hand back. He tries to make it seem that he genuinely likes her. Which isn't to say he doesn't like her, it just means that he wasn't with her for that reason tonight.

"We were just trying to have fun." Bradley pleads.

"Yeah, come on, don't be so uptight. You brought me here to have a good time. See look, I found a new guy and I'm having a good time." Helga says smiling. "What more do you want?"

"I brought you here to forget Arnold. Not disturb the other guests." Rhonda scolds. Helga flinches at Arnold's name but nods as she considers the suggestion.

"Fine. I promise that we wont shoot anymore spitballs." Bradley says, smirking.

"Okay. No terrorizing the guests in any way." Rhonda clarifies.

"Wow princess, you really need to learn to kick back and have a little fun."

"There is plenty of room for fun in one's house. Not here. This is supposed to a sophisticated party."

"My father is throwing this party. I think I'm in the clear."

Blythe Bennett comes over to compliment Sid's hat and then walks away as if nothing happened.

"What was that about?" Sid asks.

"That's my brother Blythe, he really isn't into all this upper crust society thing. He had to take his hat off. It was probably a genuine compliment." Brad says to Sid, he turns to Helga and says. "I am so glad that you were able to come tonight, babe. It's been a blast, but I think I should be going for reasons I will tell you over text." He takes out a card and hands it over to Helga. "It has my number on it."

Brad turns to walk away as Helga clutches the paper to her heart. "Oh wait." He says turning around. He leans in and to everyone's surprise, kisses Helga. _Forget about Arnold, THIS is the best moment of my life. _Helga thinks to herself. As soon as Brad is out of eyesight, Helga faints on the ground, her pupils turned to hearts as she wakes up only seconds later. Sid is ultimately the one to help her up and she thanks him. A half hour later they leave the party, every one of them happy with their results.

Later on that night Lila and Rhonda have a slumber party.

"Remind me again why I needed to bring Sid and not just take Arnold."

"Because Arnold would have been all over Helga and probably find a way to stop them. Sid would watch from a distance and tell Arnold about it. Now that Arnold will believe Helga has moved on, he will want to move on as well. And who will he find will be interested? Oh that's right. You."

"Don't you think that this is all kind of mean."

Rhonda winks,"Sometimes you've got to mean to get what you want."

**Scenario 2 will be coming soon. I kind of liked the idea of Sid being in this and I had to write it. But there will be another scenario with Arnold. Chapter 10 will probably also have 2 scenarios or people can just pick which one they liked better. We'll see. Thanks for your support guys! :)**


	10. Chapter 9b

Scenario 2

The car is pulled up to the curb as Rhonda's entire group of friends watch in anticipation. As it turns out Rhonda and Lila decided not to tell anyone who it was that Lila was bringing and to instead leave it as a surprise. Rhonda smiles to herself. Although she did approve of the guy that Lila was bringing, she had an alternate plan that no one really knew about. That was why she had no problem with borrowing an extra pass for him. See, even though Lila had her own free ticket. It was not actually a full access pass like Rhonda's. Every pass has its own plus one. In other words, you can bring someone with you. Lila's ticket was more of an extra plus one. If Rhonda wanted to go to the club with Nadine she could bring that Nadine and Lila could tag along with them. The special passes were rarely ever given out. Only in special cases such as Lila's. She was a total sweetheart plus the fact that she didn't have money yet still dressed in the newest fashions. Nadine never got one because the managers of the club were weirded out by her obsession with bugs and dirt.

"You told him what to wear, didn't you?" Rhonda asks Lila. "We do not want a repeat of the whole Stinky incident, do we?"

"Oh I promise he will be properly dressed, Rhonda. I am ever so excited."

"Does she always talk like that?" Sebastians asks in a whisper.

"Why? Do you have a problem with it?"

"No...Not at all. It's actually kind of cute." He responds looking at Lila. He then turns to see Rhonda glaring at him as if to say "excuse me?" Realizing his mistake Sebastian adds, "Well I mean, not as cute as anything you do babe...Of course."

"Of course." Rhonda says critically.

While they wait for the car door to open, Helga and Brad are having their own fun. Well, their version of fun. In other words, the two of them sit underneath the food tables surrounded by cupcakes and straws, while giggling to themselves. Every couple of minutes one of the two of them would stick their head out from under the table with a straw. They would look around for the perfect target. Then after finding said person, they would hold the straw to their mouth and blow spitballs. Afterwards they would duck down below the table and laugh about whoever it was that got hit.

"Haha." Bradley laughed. "I just hit this kid with a...get this... a football shaped head."

"What?" Helga yelled, attracting a crowd to the table. A group of people try to figure out where the noise came from.

"Calm down. Now everybody's gonna know that we're under here."

"And we can't leave." Helga whispers in complete demanding fear.

"What? Why now? This is my country club. No one's gonna care that we're underneath a table." Brad comments as he starts to crawl out.

"Fine. You can leave. But I will be right here." Helga lifts the table cloth up from the ground only so much to see feet. She reveals a pair of black shoes not even a foot away from her face.

"Helga?" A familiar voice asks. A hand reaches out and lifts the rest of the fabric up revealing Arnold on his knees. He offers his hand as he stands up, hoping to help her up as well.

"Staying away from people like you, Arnaldo." Helga snears as she crawls out from underneath the table. Arnold offers his hand again but she looks away and grabs Brad's instead. "Arnold, this is Brad. Brad, Arnold."

"Oh. Rhonda's told me a little about you." Brad says.

"Helga! What were you doing underneath the table, on the floor, in that brand new dress?" Rhonda criticizes.

"Nothing." She laughs as she brushes off the skirt of her dress.

"Guys is it okay if I talk to Helga alone." Arnold asks.

"Uh. NO!" Rhonda shouts. "It would not be okay for you to talk to Helga alone. Remember who asked you to this party. I mean, you can't come to a party with sweet little Lila and spend the night hanging with Helga. Especially after this morning, all right?"

"Well... you know what, you're right Rhonda." Arnold admits. "Sorry, Helga. That's all I really wanted to say anyway."

"It's fine. I don't care." Helga says, looking away. Brad puts his arm over her shoulders and leads her away. He doesn't ask questions.

Meanwhile Lila walks over after seeing what had happened. "Arnold?"

"Lila!" He says turning around. "I-uh."

"I don't care if you really want to spend the night with Helga. I'm sure that I just don't mind." Lila says heartbroken. "She's over there with Brad."

The three of them look over to see Helga and Brad's faces pressed against each other. A smile finding its way to Helga's lips.

"It's okay. I don't care. I'm over her." He says bringing Lila closer to him. "I didn't really like her to begin with." He knew in his head that it was lie. He really didn't know how he felt about her. Sure, she was extremely mean and rude to her on a regular basis. But at the same time, he knew that deep down. She could be nice. Like that morning he could see her good side seeping through. That was what he found attractive about her. It wasn't the way Rhonda had made her look. It was the way that she finally seemed like a real human being.

Later that night, Lila and Rhonda have a sleepover.

"So did it work out?" Rhonda asks.

"He saw them making out." Lila says. "I'm ever so sure that he's over her." Lila says. "But don't you think this is all a bit mean."

Rhonda winks, "Sometimes you've got to be mean to get what you want."


	11. Chapter 10

The two boys sit on the top of the boarding house roof. It's a starry night and the full moon is shinging down on them. Normally Arnold would have preferred hanging out with Gerald, but tonight Gerald had his own date. So instead it was Arnold and Sid. They had lawn chairs laid out and Sid was lying back on one them. He looked up at the stars, his hands behind his head. Meanwhile Arnold was leaning over the edge watching over the city. He sees two kids fighting, across the street, getting yelled to go inside because it's too dark. He sees the teenage couple, a few blocks down, cuddling on a park bench. He sees a car driving by with the sign "just married." He sighs.

"I mean, I saw it. She kissed him. It was her right? Or maybe it was him who kissed her." Arnold says to himself. Sid sighs and just stares into the night sky.

"In the end, they locked lips. No matter who kissed who. The two of them kissed each other." Sid leans forward. "It's just occured to me. Why do you like her?"

"Want to know something I have never told anyone? Not even Gerald."

"Yeah, sure I can keep a secret."

"Nevermind."

"No seriously, I will keep it this time. I've gotten better at secret keeping since that time when... just trust me."

"Okay fine. But only because this has been on my mind for a while." Arnold says, breathing in deeply. He sits next to Sid on the adjacent lawn chair. "I have always liked Helga. I mean at first I was just being nice because, well, I liked her bow. But one time I was walking... somewhere and I overheard her voice. She was behind a trashcan, hiding or something and she had this locket. A heart shaped locket and she was talking about me. I walked closer to her, slowly listening. Eventually she just saw me and I had to walk along pretending I was looking for something that I had left. I never actually got used to it. I've told her I forgot my books, or that I was running to get somewhere. It's bad. Anyway she said the nicest things about me. Then whenever she saw me she would turn on me and call me names. Then I'd smile, walk away, and pretend nothing ever happened."

"Come to think of it, I have noticed her missing." Sid recalls. "But that doesn't clarify why you like her. Just because she likes you. I mean, c'mon, I like Rhonda. Why should Rhonda like me just because I want her to? You should try finding someone else. I think Gloria is available. Lila?"

"I don't think I do. I mean I like her when I'm not around. Then as soon as I appear... she changes and becomes, well, for lack of a better word. She becomes a bitch. That was why I kissed her. She wasn't being mean. She was acting the way she does before she sees me. Like a normal human, with normal emotions. I couldn't help myself, but then mid-kiss I thought about how she was only like that for a limited time and it could be only seconds before she started calling me football head, football face, Arnaldo, you've hear them, right?" Arnold admits. "Seeing her kiss that Brad guy made me realize that maybe she can be normal and now because of my stupid mistake, I have missed out on what I was looking for, for twelve years."

"Clarify it however much you want, Arnold. Kissing Helga is still gross."

In another house, a couple of blocks down, Helga is reading her diaries. She lays on her back her diary held high above her head and she's laughing. Her current diary is a pink book from fourth grade. The one Arnold had found and read the contents of. She laughs away her obsession and reminds herself of her new found love, the lovely and gorgeous, Bradley Bennett. Today, Helga had gotten two first kisses from two guys whom she really liked. The day that she had been waiting for her whole life had finally come. She had finally gotten over Arnold.

Lila and Rhonda were at their sleepover. Rhonda was laying on her stomache on her bed, facing Lila who was instead on the floor. The girls were talking about boys, as most girls do. In specific they spoke about a blonde boy (And I am pretty sure that we all know who that is).

"I thought you stopped liking him in 4th grade." Rhonda asks.

"Well I did. But then I saw how kind he was to everyone. And I'm just ever so sure that watching him save the neighborhood made me like him even more."

"But you saw him kiss Helga. You were right there next to me watching from the window."

"I'm just ever so sure that it doesn't make a difference. Helga likes Bradley, doesn't she. I'm just certain that they like each other too much for Arnold to make a difference."

"I know, trust me. But it doesn't hurt to have a back up plan."

"What back up plan. Oh, Rhonda, you're not doing any meddling are you?" Lila asks completely oblivious. "Please tell me you didn't do anything."

"Then maybe we should change subjects."

"What did you do?"

"I uh promised Sid that I would go out with him if he could get you and Arnold to go out." Rhonda admits. Lila stares in complete betrayal. "You've got to understand, I don't like Helga. When she told me that she was over Arnold, I wanted to get him as far away from her as possible before she changed her mind. And you like him. I figure I may as well make him fall for a girl I'm friends with instead of a girl that makes fun of me for having money and a sense of style. Lila I just want YOU to be happy. You're a nice person. And a great friend."

"I'm ever so sure, that although maybe your intentions are good, what you're doing is completely wrong and I'm certain that I don't want to be a part of it." Lila says as she packs all of her stuff. "Goodbye Rhonda. I'll see at school on Monday."

Lila picks up her things, stands up, and leaves the house, leaving a dumbstruck Rhonda sitting on her bed and staring at the open doorway.


	12. Chapter 11

It's been days since the infamous kiss between Helga and Arnold and Helga has almost completely forgotten about it. Her love for Brad had vanquished any last hope that Arnold had left. Well, at least, that was what she thought. Helga writes in her new diary, a present from her rich boyfriend. She is halfway done writing a page when her phone started vibrating. Brad had gotten in trouble with his dad and his phone was taken away, his brother Blythe was out and James would never let Brad borrow his phone for a quick text. Thinking it was Rhonda, Helga picks up her phone and presses the read now button. She reads the simple word: "Hey" and responds with an identical message. A couple seconds later her phone vibrates again. She reads the message: "Can we talk?" and searches for a name. It comes up as just a number. She responds with "Who is this?" A minute later her nightmare is revealed as the person turns out to be Arnold.

Helga sits up in bed and stares at her phone. "How did you get this number?" She chooses to say. She texts Rhonda telling her about what happened. Rhonda insists on calling her but Helga stands firm that she wants to keep her phone available to text. A second later the house phone rings and Helga picks it up.

"He says that he wants to talk." Helga says as she starts pacing around her room. Her phone vibrates and it's Arnold. "What? Apparently Phoebe gave him my number. Oh I am going to be talking to her later."  
"What why would she do that?" Rhonda questions.

"I don't know but I'm asking him that now..."

"Wait. No. Don't. Just ask why he needed it. No need to throw Phoebe under the bus and cause major drama. You can just ask her later. In a more calm manor." Rhonda interrupts.

"Okay, good point. Fine I just sent 'why did you need my number?" Helga says as she finishes typing and hits send. "I mean it's simple and to the point. God, right when I'm over the stupid football head he decides that he just has to text me. Great timing. Ugh he is so stupid."

"Guys are stupid. The guys in our class are at least." Rhonda declares. "Has he texted back?"

Helga checks her phone and sees that in the excitement she does have a unread text from Arnold. "He just asked me out!"  
"What?!"

"Yeah. He just said 'so I'm going to the movies tonight with some friends and I was wondering if you wanted to come. Brad is going to be there."

"Wait how does he know the Bennetts?"  
"I don't know. I just asked who else was going."

"And...?"

"Uhm... Sid, Brad, Harold, him and...Lila!"

"Lila. Of course."

"What do I do?"

"Go. You have to go. Do you really want Brad and Arnold to share notes about you?" Rhonda asks. After a couple seconds of hesitation she adds "Didn't think so."

"Are you sure?"  
"Yes. Now go. What are you waiting for? You have to get ready." Rhonda says right before she hangs up.

Helga searches her room for an acceptable outfit for about half an hour and takes nearly two hours to get ready. Finally at 6:45, she is ready to go. She meets up with Arnold, Harold, and Lila right outside the theatre. She sits down awkwardly and tries to make casual conversation with Harold. When Harold shows no interest in what she is saying, she moves onto making conversation with Arnold and Lila. Soon enough Sid and Brad show up and the six of them move into the theatre and take their seats. When trying to find seats, the group can't agree on the right ones. At first they take the four balcony seats, with Lila and Helga standing on the floor. Harold and Sid move to seats below them and Lila and Helga sit in the empty balcony seats. Arnold and Brad move down with their friends right below the balcony. In anger, Helga takes out a handful of pennies and throws them down at Brad. He looks up in shrugs in a what-was-I-supposed-to-do kind of way. Helga grabs Lila's arm and drags her to nearly the front of the theatre. They don't sit there for long because sure enough Brad comes by to ask them to sit with the guys. They follow him to see the only two open seats are next to Arnold. Helga climbs over the seat and Lila does the same. Although being offered the seat next to Arnold, Lila turns it down and sits in the only other chair.

Helga looks at Lila and Lila winks back. Brad, who is sitting next on the other side of Arnold mouths the word sorry. "Hey Arnold. Do you mind switching with Brad."  
"Well I kind of wanted to be near Lila."

"Fine. You and I can switch places." Helga stands up but Lila grabs her arm. She looks back to see Lila shaking her head, forcing Helga to sit back down. She crosses her arms and looks ahead.

Overall the night turns out to be fine. Despite the negative feelings, Arnold and Helga speak throughout the movie, every couple of minutes joking around. Helga decides to put her feet up on the chair in front of her. She takes popcorn kernels and starts to throw them at a couple two seats ahead of them. Arnold joins in, followed by Brad, who really just wants to spend time with Helga despite not being able to sit next to her.

Lila, on the other hand, sits as a lonely third wheel. Every once in a while she offers advice to Helga. Unfortunately all of her advice is about Arnold. After the movie, Helga walks out with Brad.

"I'm sorry we didn't get to sit next to each other." Brad apolizes, holding Helga's hands.

"It's fine." Helga says, completely out of character. "Next time, kay?"

"Alright."

"But first, I have to talk to Lila." Helga states as she turns around, she takes Lila away from the crowd of people and even more away from the four boys. "What is your deal?"

"What do you mean?" Lila asks cheerily.

"Why were you giving me Arnold-love-advice?"Helga says confused. She watches as Harold and Sid leave the lobby. Meanwhile the other two start to chat and Helga gets nervous.

"Honestly, Helga, I realized that you and Arnold just belong together. And I'm ever so sure that I had to make you see that."

"But I thought you liked Arnold." Helga is in disbelief. Still she can only stare at the boys.

"I'm sure I do but right now, you deserve him, not me."

"What do you mean?" Helga darts her attention back at Lila.

"I did something bad."


	13. Chapter 12

**Side note: I do believe that Pluto should be considered a planet.**

Helga stares in awe at the girl standing in front of her. Lila Sawyer, Little Miss Perfect, had done something wrong. And she admitted to it. The nice Helga that had finally found its way to the surface, suddenly fades. She drags Lila to the side and stands over her trying to be as intimidating as possible.

"What did you do?" Helga murmers as she stepped closer to Lila.

"Helga, I'm ever so sure that you are really scaring me right now." Lila says as she took a step back.

"Fine. Just tell me what you did before I get ole Betsy to get it for me."

"Well, you remember that time during the school play."

"Yeah, Romeo and Juliet. What about it?"

"You remember what you told me?"

"We aren't supposed to talk about that, remember."

"I know and I'm really sorry..."

"Wait. What did you say to Arnold? You better not have said anything." Helga says. Even though she knows that she had told Arnold, herself, she didn't want Lila, of all people to talk to Arnold about her. Then she realized her problem, despite having moved on to Brad she still was not over Arnold. She didn't want anyone to have her one true love. In her head Helga repeats: _I am over Arnold. I am over Arnold. I am over Arnold. I am over Arnold._ "You know what Lila. Second thought. I don't care. Say what you want to him. I like Brad now."

"Well what I did had nothing to do with talking to Arnold." Lila looks down at her feet and back up at Helga. "And I'm ever so sure that I never meant to hurt you. And I'm ever so certain Rhonda wouldn't want me telling you any way. But I mean since you don't want to hear what I did, let me just apoligize and I will leave."

Lila never wanted to get in between Helga and Arnold. She knew that Helga liked Arnold and never meant to make Helga hate her. All Lila wanted was to make the class like and except her. She never really meant to make Arnold like her. Well she did because at the time she "liked him, liked him" but after that she just wanted to keep him as a friend. Lila didnt want to be mean, that wasn't how she was. If she could have had it her way, she and Helga would be friends. That was all she wanted... to be friends with Helga. She set up the entire date night just so that Helga would see that the whole Brad thing was a set up. There was no saying whether or not Brad actually liked Helga. The point was Helga still liked Arnold and deep down Arnold really liked her too.

"Wait. What about Rhonda?"

"Well, you see Rhonda had this idea that..." Lila starts but is cut off by Arnold and Brad who walk over to see them.

"What is taking you girls so long?" Brad jokes.

"Nothing I think we're done here. Brad, can you take me home?"

"What about your car?"

"Its okay. I carpooled with Olga and she has the keys anyway." Helga explains as she takes Brad's wrist and leaves Arnold and Lila to leave together. She notices Brad's confusion and explains, "Olga is the sister I was telling you about, she's home for a while and her car is in the shop."

"Gotcha." Brad responds as he sends a quick text. "Sorry, my mom was wondering how long I'd be. I got in trouble and now she's enforcing a curfew. Lame, I know."

"It's fine."

Helga hugs Brad's left bicep and walks out with a smile large enough to be its own planet (in other words bigger than Pluto)

Meanwhile Rhonda sits on her bed reading through fashion magazines. She looks at her phone and sees that she's recieved a text: "Lila almost told her. dont worry. i stopped her. i dont no how much longer i can keep ths goin! :/" She lifts her newly manicured hand and awkwardly types out the sentence: "Just keep her away from Lila. Convince her tht Lila is a liar."

Nadine is sitting next to Rhonda reading over her shoulder. This is the first time that she has heard about what her best friend is doing to Helga and Rhonda clues her in. "Isn't that all kind of mean, though."

"A couple of weeks ago, I come into school wearing new boots and who decides to dump her lunch on them? Oh that's right, Helga. Then she phones up asking for my help. Well she's going to get my help. Soon enough she wwont have a boy to think of and maybe she will be normal for once."

"Whatever you say, Rhonda."

Arnold walks out of the theatre and to his car to drive Lila home. There is no escaping the palpable awkwardness as they walk. For about five minutes there is nothing but silence except for footsteps and people in the distance giving their opinions of the movie.

"So Lila. Did you like the movie?"

"To be perfectly honest, I thought it was a little too violent." Lila sighs.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Arnold agrees. "I have a question."

"Yes, Arnold?"

"What is the real reason you wanted me to invite Helga to go to the movies with us?"

"Are you sure you want to hear this?"

"Yeah, Lila, I do." Arnold says questionably. "But tell me the truth, this time."


	14. Chapter 13

The blonde boy and his female friend walk to his car as she explains just why exactly she did what she did. Although the girl is shivering she is reluctant to put on his offered jacket. She feels wrong about taking it. Instead she ignores the cold and she walks on telling him just what had happened. About Helga crying for help from Rhonda. She told him her own theories on why Helga acted that way. She didn't think it was necessarily him saying no that made Helga upset. She believed that it had to do with Arnold being the only person that Helga could rely on to be nice to her. After the option of Arnold was over with, who did Helga have to pine over? No one. And then she had to watch Pheobe be perfectly happy with Gerald, right in front of her. She couldn't take how unfair it was that some girls could work years trying to get a boy to like her, and other girls can just take intrest in the boy for a minute and they become an item. Helga saw how all of her hard work had been a waste for her, but one evening at the cheese festival changed everything for Pheobe. Seeing them kiss in the park sent a memory trigger to Helga's brain and she realized that she just wasn't anyone's type. So she went to Rhonda. After all Rhonda is everyone's type. Lila then described how she and Rhonda were going to make Helga look really pretty and wonderful to show Helga how she could get a boy after all. "I'm ever so certain I didn't realize she was using me."

"What do you mean 'she was using you?" Arnold asks.

At this point the two of them are in the car and driving off to Lila's house. Both of them sit uncomfortable with the situation. They debate in their mind if the silence was better. Still Lila went on to describe that Rhonda wanted Lila to make sure that Arnold wouldn't go back to liking Helga. Then she described how she had talked her friends Blythe and Brad into trying to win over Helga. It turns out that Brad was the victor.

"Why did you invite him if you knew that he was faking it?"

"I'm just ever so certain Helga would not have come if it was me and you. And I just knew that if he saw how you and Helga are made for each other he would stop trying to hurt her." Lila says before describing that Rhonda's intentions would have resulted in Brad leaving Helga anyway and Helga ultimately being left with no one. And that since Helga would have been spending so much time with Rhonda and Brad, Pheobe would have eventually have forgotten about them being best friends.

"Why did this all start?"

Lila went on to stay how Rhonda claimed that it was her boots that had made her mad. But Lila was taking a course in psychology and she knew that it had to more than that. She explained how she thought that the constant ridicule from Helga after all these years just sort of found its way to get back at her.

"Yeah, Helga can be mean on the outside but no one deserves to be alone. They especially dont deserve to be played like this."  
"I'm ever so sure that I agree, but there's nothing we can do to stop it. Helga won't believe me and I'm ever so sure she's still mad at you which decreases your credibility."

"I know one thing we can do. But it goes against most of what you stand for."

"What is it, Arnold?"

"Do you still have the Bennett's number?" Arnold asks as Lila hands over the number. "The cheese festival starts tomorrow, right." Lila nods her head. "And last, do you have the number of the guy that Rhond is going out with?" Lila hands over another piece of paper.

"Are you going to do something mean?"

"No. I'm just going to help a friend." Arnold says, wincing at the word friend. "I just want to make things right again."

Helga calls her mom on her way home to ask if it was okay if she slept over Rhonda's. Her mother, not even realizing that Helga had left, agrees, happy to get he daughter out of the house. Rhonda let her in, no questions asked and now Helga is sitting on the Lloyd's couch drinking tea. Helga explains what Lila had started to tell her. She said that Lila had told her that Rhonda would not approve of the information she was about to release. Immediately Rhonda starts laughing.

"What?" Helga asks offended.

"She was probably just going to tell you about how I made Brad talk to you so that you would get your mind off of Arnold. I wasn't doing it to be mean. Sure, he owes me a couple of favors but I did nothing wrong. You wanted to get your mind off of Arnold and hey, it worked. Is there anything I can't do?" Rhonda clarifies, shifting her position. "Also I will admit, I did want to get Arnold's mind off of you. can you blame me? We don't need any other occurances where he shows unannouncesd on your stoop and starts making out with you again. I was trying to help but Lila wouldn't agree to it. She has a crush on Brad. My theory is that she's just trying to kick you to the curb so that she can move in on your new boy. I wouldn't believe a word that girl says."

"Oh, yeah, you're probably right. But, my god, when will that stupid football head get himself together. One minute he hates me, the next he's totally in love with me, the next minute we seem like best friends."

"Oh no, Helga. Girls and Guys cannot be 'just friends.' It doesn't happen."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. I was best friends with Sid a couple of years ago, then he liked me, we dated, broke up, now we rarely talk. I mean we do but just not casually. Same thing happened with Harold, Iggy, Lorenzo, and Stinky. I try to have best guy friends, but it doesn't happen."

"So, you're saying if I become best friends with Arnold, he will like me?"

"No, Helga. I am saying, FORGET about Arnold. Don't let him toy with your emotions like this. It's not fair to you. And more importantly it's not fair to those of us who have to listen to you."

Finally Arnold and Lila reach Lila's house. They officially have what they believe to be a fool-proof plan to save Helga. Lila grabs her bag and starts to open the door. She goes out and starts to shut the door, but she hesitates. She turns around to look at Arnold. "Can I ask you one little thing?"

"Sure Lila anything." He smiles.

"Do you like Helga?"

"I don't know. Sometimes she's kind of nice."

"NO. I mean, do you like-like Helga."

**Special shout out to Lisa M. (from the facebook group), and all of my viewers that have been reading this from the beginning. I love you all! :) So thank you!**


	15. Chapter 14

Helga sits back on her special seat in the park. She holds her head as she leans against her knees. She stares at the falling leaves as she tries to evaluate her life (weird, I know). On one hand she has Arnold, a boy that she had practically dedicated her entire school career to. On the other hand she had Brad, a boy that she just met who actually seemed to like her. Helga closed her eyes and looks down allowing her head to slip through her hands so that now they are on the sides of her face. She makes a weird grunting sound. She knows that she really wants to scream but she can't. Why did that dumb football head have to mess with her mind so much? She love him, he, hates her, she hates him, he likes her. Then he asks her to the movies, with her new boyfriend and he asks as if they're best friends.

"Hey are you okay?" A voice goes. Helga looks up and smiles hopefully.

Arnold lays on his back looking at the sky on his roof. He sighs as he thinks about her. The way that she kissed back, the way her hair felt underneath his finger tips, and the way she laughed with him again. After all those years, he never thought she would stay with him. He knew that deep down his parents abandoning him had made him feel like nothing would last. He saw how Helga was over him. He wasn't her first thought anymore. Someone else had left him, but this time he knew that it was his own fault. He let out a sob as he saw a cloud in the shape of her bow float by.

"What's wrong." A voice calls up from his ladder. Arnold leans forward and shrugs.

"Rhonda, why didn't you tell me that Helga was so interesting." Bradley asks.

"Because she's not. She is a mean, selfish... ugh. Just wait Lover boy you'll see." Rhonda growls.

The two of them sit together in Rhonda's living room. Brad's brother, James, is with them, "supervising." Brad wants to call it all off. He knew Rhonda's intentions from the start. He wasn't going to go along with it. He was going to talk to her and leave Blythe to be the one to try and charm her. And if it didn't work with Blythe either, it wasn't a big deal because Rhonda had at least twenty guys lined up to talk to her. He didn't realize that there could actually be a girl who was into the same things as he was. He thought that Helga was just about the coolest person that he had met. "She's neither of those things. She's actually pretty cool. I mean just because she isn't spoiled and can speak her mind doesm't mean she's a bad person."

"No, but there are other reasons."

"And will you ever tell me those reasons?"

"Only if you promise to break up with her tonight as per agreement."

"Okay, Sweetheart, I'll see what I can do."

Helga looks up at the boy standing above her. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you."

"Oh, yeah, and what would be doing that for?"

"I need to tell you something."

"I'm listening. Come on what is it?" Helga says. "I don't have all day, spit it out, Blythe."

"Brad is only going out with you because Rhonda made him."

"Yeah I know all about Rhonda's plan. She had a line of guys to meet me at the club. Then I was going to meet with them and decide on who I liked and who liked me and then we'd live happily ever after all because stupid football face would be out of my hair forever. Yeah, I know her plan. So what?"

"Sooooooooooo... she's planning on having Brad break up with you," Blythe says as he moves in closer. This grabs Helga's attention. "Tonight. On your date."

"Nothing's wrong." Arnold says. "Well, have you ever felt like yoiu had the perfect opportunity for something and then you just let it slip? Because there's this girl and although she can really bug me, there's just something about her. Do you know what I mean?"

"I was just here to pay rent."

"Oh. Sorry." Arnold says as he leans back. "My grandpa's downstairs."


	16. Chapter 15

They sit amidst an awkward silence at a fancy restaurant. She takes a second to play with her blonde hair. She sneezes and she says bless you, then the silence returns. He can't deal with the idea of having to break up with such a perfect girl and she is dreadfully awaiting the moment that he does. The two of them look down at their food. He has steak and she has some sort of pasta. Helga takes her fork and lightly stabs some of the noodles, and moves them around her plate. Brad looks up at her and then back down at his food. He realizes that he isn't really hungry and he sighs.

"Helga?" He asks finally.

"What?" She shrugs.

"I... uh... nevermind."

They sit back alone listening to the people talking around them. Finally when Helga can't take it anymore, she picks up her fork and throws it at her plate. She stands up and stares down intimidatingly to Brad. "Are you going to break up with me or not?! Because there is no way I am going to waste my time on someone like you when there are actual individuals out there that may actually know how to treat a girl. In other words, guys who don't go out with girls just to dump them."

"What? Helga, no." Brad says. "I wasn't going to break up with you."

"Yeah, sure. As if I could possibly believe you."

Brad stands up and looks into Helga's eyes. She swoons a bit but them remembers what Blythe had told her. "Helga. I had a choice. I could decide that I like you and that I want to go out with you, or I could move on and let you get together with some snobby rich kid. Or worse, some kid with a football shaped head."

"Excuse me." Helga yells. "That kid with the football shaped head is my friend. And no one talks like that about him. Except me! And you're not all that either. Now I suggest that you leave now before the five avengers decide to drag you out."

"Come on, babe, I was only kidding. Calm down."

"No. I am sick of your lying. And F.Y.I. Don't call me babe. My name is Helga. Helga G. Pataki."

Brad leaves instantly, completely confused at the abnormality of what had just occured. Even Helga has to admit that the situation was a bit weird but she knew she could not keep lying to herself. Instead she takes out her phone and blindly calls Rhonda.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Rhonda. I just broke up with Brad." Helga says, forgetting everything that Blythe had told her. The mind does funny things in the time of a crisis. It chooses what it want to remember and what it wants to forget. And Helga's brain decided to forget that Rhonda was the reason that Brad wanted to break up with her.

"What? What happened? Are you okay?" Rhonda asks, oblivious to whatever knowledge Helga has.

"Blythe told me that Brad was going to break up with me, so I broke up with him instead."

"Well, if you want, I guess you could come over again."

And within minutes Helga drives herself down to Rhonda's house. She wipes the tears from her face and rings the doorbell. Rhonda opens the door and ushers Helga up to her room. Suddenly Rhonda gets a text, and when she looks at her phone she sees that it's from Arnold asking for love advice. She send a quick "what?" text to him to which he responds "I wanna know how to ask Helga to the cheese festival tomorrow."

She types "Why do you want to go out with Helga, anyway?" And he responds "I realized recently that I was wrong with not wanting to go out with her."

Rhonda: "Well she doesn't want to go out with you. Besides, didn't you hear, she's taken."

Arnold: "Really? because last I heard, she dumped Brad... in a public restaurant."

Rhonda: "Whatever, she doesn't want to go out with you. And she isn't"

Arnold: "How do you know?"

Rhonda: "How do YOU know she wants to?"

Arnold: "I don't that's why I need your help to ask her."

Rhonda: "Well ask someone else because I don't support this relationship."

Arnold: "What do you have against me."

Rhonda: "Nothing. I just think that you can do better."

Helga sits on Rhonda's bed and stares at the constant texting. "Princess, are you done? If you haven't noticed I recently had my heart broken."

"You know Helga. There is one very important thing that you should know. Boys are dumb. And one day, you may meet the perfect guy. It's just not now. And just because you're not me and you don't have a new group of guys chasing after you every day, doesn't mean that there is boy out there still trying to find you. I mean you can't chase something you haven't found yet." Rhonda adivises, still looking at her phone.

Arnold: "What do you mean, I can do better."

Rhonda: "I mean that you deserve someone pretty, smart, funny, nice, and all around better than Helga. Unless you wanna be called geekbait for the rest of your life. But hey, it's up to you."

Then Helga's phone vibrates and she sees a message from Arnold: "When Rhonda falls asleep, read through her messages. In specific, the messages from me. Lila was right."

Helga tried thinking deep into her memory. She realized that Lila never got the chance to tell her anything because she kept cutting Lila off. She excused herself to the bathroom and called Lila. The phone went straight to voicemail. She knew there was only one thing to do. Wait until Rhonda was asleep and figure out what exactly the football head was talking about.


	17. Chapter 16

Helga lays down on a luxury air mattress and closes her eyes. A few minutes she can hear Rhonda yelling at her to see if she was asleep. After about half an hour she can hear Rhonda's light snoring. She opens her eyes and peers at the girl on the next bed. She notices that Rhonda is completely motionless and she looks over at the nightstand where she sees Rhonda's I-phone. She picks it up but there is a lock. She tries a couple of numbers but then decides to associate the numbers with letters. The first word she tries is L-O-V-E, 5-8-6-3, and it gets her in. She tries looking for messages with Arnold but she doesn't find anything. She doesn't know whether Rhonda erased the messages or if they were even there to begin with. What catches her eye is the fact that the last message between Rhonda and Lila had said "Please, don't go through with this."

Helga hold the phone less than a foot away from her face and she reads the conversation:

Rhonda: You know it's for the better.

Lila: Im just sure that it's mean.

Rhonda: But if it works then you get to have Arnold for yourself and Helga gets nothing.

Lila: I don't want to hurt Helga.

Rhonda: As if she's been anything but mean to you since you got here.

Lila: She's not all that bad.

Rhonda: I'm just seeking revenge for all of the terrible stuff she has done to everyone throughout the years.

Lila: I'm ever so sure she's not as mean as you make her out to be.

Rhonda: She is terrible. After I screw up her love life, I am going to ruin her school life too. Then she will have nothing.

Lila: Please don't go through with this.

Helga put the phone down angrily and endeavored with all of her strength not to take a pillow and sufocate Rhonda. Helga packs up her stuff and she starts to leave when Rhonda awakens and asks where she's going.

"I'm going home. Have fun sleeping in your lush palace of perfection."

"What are you talking about?"

"You have everything. A nice house, a loving family, tons of money, and guy friends who will literally grovel at your feet for just a glance. Is that enough for you? No. It isn't. As soon as I get a little attention from a guy, you have to ruin it. And not just that, you have to ruin my entire life. Because you are just a greedy little bitch."

"Just go home Helga."

"I wasn't waiting for your invitation, Lloyd."

Helga storms out of the house and calls Arnold. It goes to voicemail but that doesn't stop her from continuously trying. Finally he picks up and says "Helga? Did you read the messages?"

"Of course I read the messages." Helga wipes tears off her face as she walks down the street. The moon is out but that doesn't cover up the fact that it's eleven o'clock at night and the streets are practically pitch black. If it weren't for the street lamps hanging every few yards, Helga would not see a thing. Although she does have a car, she was too upset to drive but luckily she knew she was unstable.

"Are you okay?"

"No. I am not okay. Would you be okay, after finding out that a girl you had trusted was just setting you up to ruin your life?"

"To be honest, Helga. That's sometimes how I feel with you."

"What?" Helga stops.

"Sometimes I really want to trust that you're a good person. And I want to trust that you will help me out and be cool but then you turn on me and call me names. No one likes feeling like that. I know this is hard for you right now. But maybe, it's good that she hurt like this because maybe you will see what you have been doing to people."

Helga starts to walk slowly, but only breathes into the phone. After hearing her hesitation, Arnold starts up again, "Listen, I know you're going through a lot right now, so I wont be mean. How about you meet me in the park in one hour, your favorite seat, and we can talk all night about it. Okay."

And Helga whispers back, "Okay."


	18. Chapter 17

It's midnight when Helga reaches the park. She sits on her bench and she sobs to herself as she seems to have been doing a lot lately. She waits by herself for a couple of minutes, expecting Arnold to not show up. She takes her phone out and presses a button for no other reason than to look at the screen and to see something bright again. She hears foot steps coming her way and she shines the phone in that direction. She presses another button, hoping that it will keep the light shining longer. In the near distance she sees Arnold with his one hand in his pocket and the other holding a flashlight which he points in her direction. He has on a periwinkle zip-up hoodie and his normal jeans and red plaid shirt clearly shown. He finds her and sits down next to her on the bench. She moves over to make room for her friend. He hands her a handkerchief and she uses it to blot her eyes. He gives her a friendly hug, which just makes her cry more. They sit in silence for a while as he rubs her back and attempts to keep her from crying even more so than she already is.

"Does everyone really hate me that much?" Helga whispers through her tears.

"Well, you've never really given any of us a reason not too." Arnold explains honestly.

"You don't know what I've done..."

"I mean, your not exactly nice to everyone. Well, except for Phoebe, but even then all you do is boss her around. That's kinda why people don't want to do anything nice for you."

"But you're here. You're being nice to me." Helga says as she puts her head on his shoulder, the right side of her tear-soaked face digging into his warm shirt. She smells him and thinks to herself how nothing could ever feel this good.

"Helga, I am not gonna just sit around when someone I know is in pain. You called my help what was I supposed to do?"

"So...you don't like me."

"No offense, but why should I?"

"Arnold, you remember that Christmas when all of us girls wanted nothing more than those Nancy Spimoni snow boots."

"Yeah. The Christmas we did the shopping for Mr. Bailey."

"Well, I have a bit of a confession." Helga says turning her face to look at him. She smells his minty breath. He looks at her curiously. "Well, that Christmas, I followed you guys. I was going to buy you a present of some sort when I saw that you dropped your Christmas list. When I went to return it to you, I saw that you were desperately trying to find the snow boots so that you could find Mr. Hyunh's daughter."

"Okay?" Arnold says, wanting her to get to the point.

"Well the thing is, I went home that night, upset because I couldn't find anything for you." Helga looks down now. "My mother gave me an early Christmas present.

"Wait. What did you do?" Arnold says pushing her off of him. He holds her in his hands and he stares at her.

"I went to Mr. Bailey's office right before he left and I convinced him that if he didn't find Mai for you, that you would never believe in miracles again." Helga says. She sees Arnold looking at her questionably and she adds, "Well, that and I gave him my snow boots."

"You did that for me."

"I just wanted you to have a good Christmas."

"I remember that Christmas though. You REALLY wanted those snow boots. All of the girls did."

"Not as much as I wanted to see you happy."

Arnold is speechless as he lets go of her. He lets her rest her head back on his shoulder as he rethinks every memory of that Christmas. "I can't believe you did that for me."

"We do crazy things for those that we love."

"Helga."

"Yeah, Arnold."

"You know this doesn't change anything right?" Arnold says as Helga looks up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that, I can not express in words how lucky I am to have you do that for me, but that doesn't change how I feel."

"I know." She responds grimmly. She hesitates and continues, "But I really don't see why everyone hates me so much."

"You have never really been nice to anyone."

"Well, it's not really my fault. They were mean to me on the first day of preschool. I..."

"It doesn't feel good does it." Arnold interrupts. After all, he already knew what came next.

"No. I guess not." Helga starts. "I just didn't want to be the victim anymore. I didn't want them to make fun of me. At home, I am always on the bottom, I just wanted school to be different. Look how that turned out, eh. Doi. Why would Rhonda want to help me? She probably thinks I am the meanest person in the world."

"I don't think you're as mean as everyone thinks you are."

"You always say that, Arnold, but what if it's true. What if I am the bitch that everyone says I am. Think about it, I threaten people, I am always punching Brainy..."

"But remember what you just said that you did for me." Arnold mentions. "Maybe you're just nice about the things that you are passionate about. Why be nice to the kids that bullied you, right?"

"Okay, but that's not excuse for how I treated you."

"No. It's not. I have tried being nice to you. I have always been nice to you. That's just who I am. I guess being mean has just become who you are."

"But what if I dont want to be this way anymore."

"Then change."

"But what if I don't know how."

"That's the cool thing about having friends. We help our friends out when they need it."

"Does this mean you're gonna be my friend now."

"Only if you can promise me that you're gonna stop being so mean and just be Helga. Be normal. Then, yeah, I think that we can be friends."

"Do you think that maybe someday we can be more than that."

"Why don't we work on trying to be friends first. Then, well, who knows."

"But why are you giving me another chance."

"That's the thing about me, Helga. I'm not mean and I don't give up on people. I may not agree with your ways of communicating with people, but I think that maybe you can change for the better. I'm giving you a second, or thousandth chance."

"But you don't think that we can ever really be together?"

"Why don't we try being just friends for now."


	19. Chapter 18

After school a couple days later, Rhonda and Helga accidently meet up by their parked cars in the Hillsdale High parking lot. After walking from their last class of an over busy school day, the two of them are not happy to begin share a quick glare and without any hesitation, Rhonda starts to stomp towards Helga's car with a giant smile taking over her face. Helga throws her bag in the back seat and meets Rhonda a quarter of the way, a scowl on her own face. Rhonda has brought along with her: some followers, anxious to see the fight that is about to explode. Phoebe, Arnold, Lila, and some other geeks stand behind Helga, showing their support against Rhonda. Only a select few people in either crowd actually know the situation behind it all, but knowing Helga and Rhonda, the fight is going to be worth seeing no matter what the circumstances are. All of the students gather around in a sort of circle formation, forcing Rhonda and Helga to battle it out in the middle. People still make sure to remain their alliance to the respective sides of the battle, which for the most part seem pretty equal.

"Why hello there, princess." Helga calls out. Anyone else in hearing distance comes over to see what will happen next.

Rhonda rolls her eyes and smiles. "So, a little birdy told me that someone was over my house the other night, supposedly for a sleepover, when ooops it looks like she just wanted to read my text messages."

Helga throws her hands on her hips and Arnold walks forward to stand right next to her. Helga pushes him back and says, "Listen, there is nothing on your phone that would interest me. Probably all about the latest fashions in Guam. Trust me, I'm not into that."

"Well anyone with eyes can clearly see that."

"Wow. Why don't you tell everyone what you really think of me, princess?" Helga challenges. Rhonda takes the comment as sarcasm and she rolls her eyes again. Helga takes a step forward in an attempt to get in Rhonda's face. "No. I am being serious. Why don't you explain to me right now why you have such a problem with me?"

Rhonda doesn't hesitate to think but she does put her hands on her own waist as she begins, "You're ugly, you're a bitch, you hit and threaten people, you've clearly haven't heard of tweezers, you think that you're better than everyone else and that you can just boss people around even though no one has any respect for you." As Rhonda talks, more and more people begin to back her up shouting out examples as to why Helga is such a terrible girl. Rhonda thinks hard about the best way to really annoy Helga. "You never care enough to call people by their actual names, you punch Brainy, you boss around Phoebe, and worst of all you are a total bitch the one person who you love. Yeah, i said LOVE. And does anyone want to know who that is, yeah, it's ARNOLD! You are probably the worst girl I have ever met. Whose idea was it to prank Lila and laugh at her tears? You. The same person who lies to Curly, broke Stinky's heart, and bullies Harold for being dumb. When it comes down to it, all of your 'so call friends' are victims of yours. That is why everyone hates you. You are the original mean girl. If only you could be more like Olga. I mean, compared to her, what are you? I can answer that for you. You are nothing."

"Is that all?"

"For now."

"Well, okay then." Helga says as she begins to walk back to her car. She pushes the remaining kids out of the way but she soon finds that everyone is following her. "What?"

"You never said what you didn't like about me. And I am oh so interested in hearing that." Rhonda comments. She waits a few seconds before saying: "Well... I'm waiting."

"Do you feel good about yourself?" Helga asks calmly. She thinks about Arnold and what he had said to her the other night about not being a bully anymore. "Do you feel good, going around and being mean to someone less fortunate than you? I mean there you are with your perfect life and..."

"Hang on. What do you know about my life? My life is not perfect!" Rhonda says, offended.

"Wait. Let me finish. Does it make you feel good to be so above everyone else? How does it feel to finally say all of that stuff to me after all these years? Are you suddenly a better person now? Do you have a clear mind, a cleansed soul? Have your dreams magically come true? Or instead are you sitting there trying to make me feel below you and make me cower to your level, angry because I have finally seen what it's like to actually be a good person, and you never will. You know, the two of us aren't all that different. Except that, I'm not going to say anything bad about you because I feel as though your word speak for themselves." Helga reaches for the front door of her car and she gets in. Before shutting the door and driving away, she says, "Farewell, Princess."

Helga starts to head home, the tears finally making their way to the outside. She gets a text message and she begins to read it. It's from Arnold and it says: "Way to go!" She sends a quick: "Thanks!" and refocuses on the road. When she does she realizes that she is on the wrong side of the street and she has to switch back to the other lane. She does so in time and she proceeds home. When she reaches her house she takes off running to her nice made bed and she lies down on her stomache. She grabs one of her journals from underneath one of her pillows and she begins to write away. She used to be the mean rotten girl that everyone hated. Only one person had seen through her and sure, maybe they weren't really meant to be together, but they say everything happens for a reason. The reason that all of this was meant to happen was to get rid of Helga, the mean bully and make way for a new Helga; a Helga, not followed by people who cower before her, but embraced by people who saw the change in her. And who knows, maybe one day, Helga and Arnold may make a cute couple, but for now, she was just happy to finally have him as a friend.


End file.
